An inter stage seal housing is used in a turbine engine to form a seal between itself, a rotating component, and another non-rotating component of the turbine engine, such as the turbine stator or a stationary vane component. FIG. 1 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of a conventional inter stage seal housing 10, which includes a downstream contact sealing surface 13. FIG. 2 shows an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the conventional inter stage seal housing 10 shown in FIG. 1 together with a stationary airfoil 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the downstream contact sealing surface 13 of the conventional inter stage seal assembly 10 prevents the flow 15 from passing between the inter stage seal housing 10 and a stationary airfoil 14 of the turbine. However, engine operation eventually causes the downstream contact sealing surface 13 of the inter stage seal housing 10 to wear with the amount of wear being proportional to the number of hours of engine operation. Excessive wear of the downstream contact sealing surface 13 can create a leak path, which can negatively affect the cooling efficiency of the associated rotor disc cavity, vane inner shrouds and overall engine efficiency and performance of the turbine engine.
During a schedule maintenance for the turbine, the downstream contact sealing surface 13 of the inter stage seal housing 10 is examined for excess wear and possible leaks. If excess wear and/or any leaks are found, the downstream contact sealing surface 13 of inter stage seal housing 10 must be welded in order to restore the downstream contact sealing surface 13 to its original shape. However, this type of weld building repair tends to be very time consuming, which leads to increase service expenses, and the downstream contact sealing surface 13 becomes distorted as a result of the weld buildup, which imparts on the performance of the turbine engine.